Whether you measure the speed of Mark Buehrle’s fastball with a radar gun, an egg-timer or a calendar, he couldn’t care less.

He’s a man who finesses his way through a lineup, time after time, racking up enough outs to parlay his talent into a dozen consecutive seasons of 200-plus MLB innings. His is an extraordinary record where less is more.

Friday the crafty Blue Jays lefty worked his way through two innings against the Tampa Bay Rays, allowing a run that should have been erased by his defence, and didn’t throw one pitch harder than 83 m.p.h.

“Velocity doesn’t mean much to me,” he said. “The only time I notice (radar gun readings) is if the ball is put in play and I happen to be looking in that area. I’d love to throw 90 to 95 m.p.h. but that’s not me. If I’m getting groundballs and it’s 80 m.p.h. and I’m getting guys out, that’s good enough for me.”

Pitchers are notorious tinkerers, always trying to perfect something new, especially in spring training. Buehrle simply goes to the mound and tries to get outs, preferably as efficiently as he can. In addition to his fast-paced approach to hitters, he invites contact the way a spider invites flies into his web.

“I’m out there trying to get guys out,” he said. “I’m not working on a certain pitch or situations. I’m working on everything, building my pitch count and getting guys out. It’s spring training and the results don’t matter as much but I still like to get outs. I don’t like to get hit around and give up runs. There’s a pride factor.

“Just go out, keep the ball down, get ahead in the count, move the ball around.”

It is all designed to get his endurance to the point where he can deliver seven or eight innings in his first start and every one of the 30-odd that will follow.

“I’m going to give up hits,” he said. “I’ve always been among the league-leaders in giving up hits, just because I’m in the strike zone. Guys are going to get basehits, get bloopers, find the holes. I’ve just got to work around that and, in key situations, get a groundball for a double play.”

Perfect example: Friday, in his first inning, Buehrle issued a rare walk to the leadoff man, Desmond Jennings. He struck out Sean Rodriguez, then Matt Joyce singled to centre. Buehrle responded by getting Shelley Duncan to ground into what should have been an inning-ending double play. Shortstop Maicer Izturis fed to second baseman Emilio Bonifacio for the first out but Bonifacio threw wildly to first, allowing the run to score.

That miscue aside, Buehrle was sharper in this one than his first start when he gave up four consecutive hard-hit balls to the Orioles. Friday’s game produced a number of groundball outs.

“There were a lot of swing and misses, too,” he said with some satisfaction. “Couple of guys thought they were changeups and I said, ‘No, that’s my fastball.’ Getting movement and keeping the ball down is important. When guys are hitting the ball on the ground I know I’m where I need to be in the zone.”

Buehrle will carefully build his pitch-count and innings, but not velocity, as the spring progresses.

“I’m just building up arm strength,” he said. “First time out, after the inning and a third, I felt like I was pretty much spent. If I had to go back out I would have been tired. Today I got out of the second inning and felt like I could have gone back out and thrown another inning.”

This is a guy who has pitched a perfect game and won a World Series, in addition to the aforementioned string of 200-inning seasons. Not a lot more to accomplish than that.

“Cy Young?” he asked, rhetorically, then answered his own question, with a sly smile. “If I strike out 80 guys a year, is that gonna get it done? In your own mind, yeah, every pitcher would like to do that. But, realistically, I don’t think that’s in my future.”

No, better to keep it real, stay grounded and go for the tried-and-true.

“I go out there and try to go deep into the game, no matter what the situation,” he said. “One of my goals always is to get to 200 innings. Wins, ERA, that stuff is going to take care of itself. If you get to 200 innings, it means you’re healthy and you’re pitching decent. That’s pretty much my only goal.”

Oh, and one other thing.

“Just win another World Series,” he said. “For guys who’ve never been there, you try to explain to them as much as you can the feeling and the excitement that comes with it. Until you’re actually there, it is hard to convey that true feeling.”

Kind of like a hitter trying to explain another 0-for-4 against the stylings of a Mark Buehrle. You kind of have to be there.

Blue Jays 5, Rays 4

- Non-roster pitcher Neil Wagner fanned Kyle Kiermaier for the final out with the tying run at second.

- Brett Lawrie's first homer gave Toronto a 2-1 lead in the second inning.

- Andy LaRoche and Adam Loewen had back-to-back RBI singles in the sixth.

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Velocity doesn’t mean much to Jays' Buehrle

Whether you measure the speed of Mark Buehrle’s fastball with a radar gun, an egg-timer or a calendar, he couldn’t care less.

He’s a man who finesses his way through a lineup, time after time, racking up enough outs to parlay his talent into a dozen consecutive seasons of 200-plus MLB innings. His is an extraordinary record where less is more.

Friday the crafty Blue Jays lefty worked his way through two innings against the Tampa Bay Rays, allowing a run that should have been erased by his defence, and didn’t throw one pitch harder than 83 m.p.h.

“Velocity doesn’t mean much to me,” he said. “The only time I notice (radar gun readings) is if the ball is put in play and I happen to be looking in that area. I’d love to throw 90 to 95 m.p.h. but that’s not me. If I’m getting groundballs and it’s 80 m.p.h. and I’m getting guys out, that’s good enough for me.”